It's Not Personal

I am sick and tired of some of the false accusations being made against me and people who share my Catholic faith. We are accused of being intolerant and sticking our noses where they do not belong. I would like to set the record straight.

First, Catholics do not hate homosexuals and I am offended by the constant criticism that I hate them simply because I do not want them to be given by the law, the added privilege to marry a person of the same sex. I don't believe in polygamy either. Does that mean I hate people who want to legalize polygamy? Am I for discriminating against polygamists? No consenting and competent adult in this country is being discriminated against when it comes to his or her right to marry. Every consenting and rational adult has the legal right to marry another consenting and rational adult of the opposite sex and have that marriage be recognized by the government. So, when someone comes along and says they want a DIFFERENT legal right, they are asking the government to ADD a right. This is far different than a person demanding that he be allowed to take advantage of the same rights as everyone else, rights which already exist for that person.

I am also sick and tired of being accused of forcing my beliefs on others and of putting my nose into people's personal business because I don't believe they should have the right to marry their same sex partners. I go to the voting booth and I take my Catholic conscience with me and use my rights as a citizen to vote for or against those things which I believe are good or bad for society. You also vote according to your beliefs. It is a right we both have and exercising this right does not equal forcing our beliefs on anyone or sticking our noses where they don't belong.

I am also tired of people telling me I need to keep my religion to myself. It does not matter what your voting record is based upon, whether it be your faith or simply your personal philosophy, you have the right to vote as you see fit. Our constitution gives us the right to put our faith beliefs in action and strive to fashion our world according to those beliefs. So, when people say that I don't have the right to tell a same sex couple they should not have the right to get married and have that marriage recognized by our government, that is hogwash. I DO have that right. The law gives me that right just as it gives others the right to fight for legalization of same sex marriage. It matters not why or how we came to our beliefs.

Some might ask why I care about keeping certain rights away from others. Shouldn't the person they decide to marry be their personal choice? The short answer is that these so called personal choices are not so personal. I do not want to live in a world where same sex marriage is recognized as a valid marriage under the law and where my children and grandchildren are taught that that kind of relationship is healthy. I believe that would be bad for my children and bad for all of society. My faith tells me that same sex behavior is disordered because it goes against God's plan for man and the ultimate purpose for which he was created. Laws recognizing same sex marriage as a valid marriage color our societal values and are not personal. They affect not only all of society, but me and my family. I can't tell people what to do inside of their own bedrooms at home even if I do think it is bad for them, and I am not suggesting that we have laws that regulate that kind of behavior. But, when something becomes a law or a right becomes legal, then it becomes my business, plain and simple. The laws that are on our books fashion our world, the world our children grow up in and the values they see and begin to imitate.

We, as citizens in a democratic society, have the right to vote according to our beliefs no matter where those beliefs come from. We have a right to try and fashion a society we believe is acceptable. And once we develop our plan we all must live by that same plan. Once something is legal or illegal we all play by the same rules and it is no longer 'personal'.

There is a popular saying going around today and it goes something like this: If you don't believe in birth control, don't use it, if you don't believe in abortion, don't have one, if you don't believe in same sex marriage, don't get married to the same sex, etc. You get the picture. The obvious meaning behind this supposedly clever little saying is that we should all just live and let live, mind our own business, and I get my way and you get your way. There is a real problem with this growing sentiment of our day.

First, there is the obvious problem with this thinking. We need laws. Should we extend this type of thinking to the following: If you don't believe in robbing a bank, don't rob a bank, If you don't believe in selling illegal drugs, don't sell drugs, etc. You get the picture. But, there is more that is wrong with this type of thinking. It is just not realistic. We live in a community and as such, our behavior is rarely personal. There is a lot that can be said about this, but I would like to point out just one example.

If any of you should question the merit in this type of thinking, ask Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado what he thinks. Mr. Phillips is a Christian business owner who puts his faith into all that he does in his life, including his cake business. Gay marriage goes against Jack's beliefs and therefore, he refuses to make and sell gay wedding cakes. He does not discriminate against anyone. He will sell cakes and donuts and all baked goods to gay people. If they ask for a gay wedding cake he refers them elsewhere.

Recently, Jack Phillips became the target of an angry gay couple. When he refused to make this couple a gay wedding cake, they left his shop angry. Mr. Jack Phillips soon found himself in court battling for his right to run his business in a manner consistent with his faith. Apparently, Jack does not have that right. Never mind that gay marriage is not recognized under the law in Colorado, Jack was told he would make gay wedding cakes or close down his business. Tell Jack Phillips that how he manages to run his business is his personal business and how people choose to celebrate relationships is their personal business. He is likely to tell you a different story. Something as seemingly harmless and personal as a couple choosing to have a gay wedding cake is not necessarily a matter of personal choice, at least not for Jack Phillips.

Many people claim that the government has no business dictating what they do in their personal lives and that includes who they decide to marry. These same people are often the ones to demand government step in and secure their rights with laws and court proceedings every time they perceive unfair treatment. Apparently, and against what they preach, their rights are not so personal.

I remember a friend of mine coming to me very frustrated one day. She ran into a woman who claimed to be Catholic and yet pro-choice at the same time. This woman reasoned that abortion was okay because according to her, a fetus is not a human being. My friend, as stunned as she was by this remark, was at a loss for words. I remember thinking, "Who does this woman think she is that she has the power and the right to determine when a human being becomes a human being? Does she think she is God?" Then it struck me. We get ourselves into real trouble when we decide we can be God. To believe that you have the right to define what makes a human being a human being is to make yourself God, and history dating all the way back to Old Testament times tells us about the mess human beings get themselves into when they decide they are God. Scripture warns us about the suffering that accompanies playing God.

My friend might have gone on to ask this pro-choice woman a series of questions: "Why isn't the fetus a human being? Is the nine month old fetus who possesses all of the abilities to survive outside of the womb a human being? If so, at what point inside of the womb does a human being become a human being?" She could have driven this woman crazy with all of these endless sorts of questions. Questions like these can be enough to get a person to re-think their position.

Who knows what arbitrary answers she would have received, but the bottom line is that If we have the power and the right to determine what makes a human being a valuable human being, what is stopping us from becoming like Hitler who decided that the Jews were not valuable human beings? Who gets to be God and make the final judgment concerning a human being's worth? Will we all ever agree on the definition of a valuable human being? We don't agree now. If we can be God, then we can have any definition we so choose for determining human value. Which god will prevail? Right now, the United States government gets to play God, and that god can change at any time given the voices of all the citizen gods with voting rights. This is the problem we run into when we decide we are God.

There is only one humane conclusion we are left with if we want to uphold the dignity of the human being. Human beings are human beings from the moment they are conceived and all human lives are of equal value no matter what abilities they do and do not possess because all life is created by the one and only true God.

Mr. Biden, I believe that you have an obligation as a Catholic to uphold the teachings. Nowhere in the Catechism of the Catholic Church does it say you may leave your faith beliefs on the doorstep when it comes to your political life. As a matter of fact, a man in your position who has a voice that most of us don't have has a serious obligation to put God first and proclaim the truth in all your public practices. You say you are familiar with Catholic Social teaching. Hogwash!

Ms. Pelosi, You call yourself a 'respectful' Catholic, but you can't seem to respect the dignity of the human being from the moment of conception and dare to make the ridiculous statement that abortion is about reproductive health and is not a political matter. Again, hogwash! You also can't answer a reporter's simple question on what the difference is between Gosnell snipping the spine of a 24 week old baby who has just been born and a 22 week old baby inside of the womb. The Catholic Church says that life is sacred from the moment of conception. Read more...